Vehicle-spring.



J'IDTIIN Gr. UTE, OE

CLEVELAND, OHID, ASSIGNOR- T THE EBFCTN SPHNG @OMPI-HWY.

F CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION DE GHO.

VEHICLE-SPRING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Slept, 14C,

I Application l'ilcdrpril 13, 12H4. Serial No. lel.

To @Z310/2.0m it may concern lle it known that l, JOHN (l. U'rz, a citithe United .Elta/tes, resi ding' at Cleveland, in the county oi' Cuyahoga and State Ohio, have invented a certain new and 'useful linproveincnt in Vehicle-Springs, of which the, following' is a full, clear, and eX- act description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to vehicle springs and, ivhile certain Jfeatures of construction may be of more general application, the embodiment hereof is designed With particular reference to thc type of springknown to the art as cantaliver springs1 lt is the general purpose of this invention to provide such a springT ivith means whereby unnecessary vibration thereof, involving; unnecessary relative movement between the vel'licle trarne or body and the aule, may be prevented Without sacriiicing the resiliency of the spring Within predetermined practical working" limits. ln this particular ern bodiinent, l. accomplish this result by the construction illustrated in the drawings, wherein- Figure l represents a side elevation of a part of the side frame olf an automobile, showing connected thereto a. spring made in accordance `with my invention, the axle being shown in section; lig'. 2 represents an enlarged sectional detail through the bracket to which the central portion of the spring is pivotally connected; and 3 a detail in perspective of the two parts of the device whereby the rotation oi the spring; 'with reference to the bracket pivot is limited.

Describing by reference characters the various parts illustrated herein, l denotes a part of the side or body frame of a ve* hicle, such as an automobile, and 2 the axle.

3 denotes the lower and l the upper member of a spring seat which is rotatably mounted upon the axle. The upper member is provided.,l with two pairs of upwardly projectinglugs 5 and G, which pairs of lugs are spaced apart in the direction oli the .length of the spring, the' lugs 6 being sutil'- cientlv longer than the lugs 5 to permit the .main leaf ofi the spring and the leali nent thereto to be connected to the lugs 5 and respectively Without altering the normal relation between the leaves.

7 denotes a spring; of the cantaliver type, the main plate 7 whereof is provided With an eye 8 Which is connected to the lugs 5 by means of a pin 9.

7l denotes the plate next adjacent to the main plate 7, the plate 7b being provided A with. an eye 10 which is connected to the lug 6 by means of a pin 11. The oppositeend of the spring from that just described is con nected to the frame 1 by means of depend ing shackles or links 12, while the central. portion of the springe,r is pivotally connected to the frame by means of a spring seat 13 to which it issecured by the clips let, the spring seat being lpivotally mounted upon a pin or bolt 15 extending' across the arms 1G and 17 of a lll-shaped yolre 'forming part of a bracket, indicated generally at 18, which is secured to the side frame 1.

The construction thus far described is substantially the same as that illustrated and described in the application of Michael M. Mclntyre for vehicle springs, led April l, 1914-, Serial No. 828,694.

The spring' seat 13 is provided with a cylindrical sleeve 13a by which it is rotatably mounted upon the pin or bolt l5. @ne end ot this sleeve is provided with segmental re* cesses 13b, three such recesses being shown, said recesses being separated by segmental projections 13C. The recesses are of greater angular extent than are the projections, a reason to be explained hereinafter.

19 denotes a short cylindrical sleeve which is nonrotatably supported in a positionto cooperate with the recessed end of the sleeve 13a. The sleeve 19 may be conveniently secured in place by means'of a pin Q0, extending through the pin or bolt 15, the said sleeve beine,r interposed between the sleeve 13L and. the arm 16 of the bracket yoke. rlFhe end of the sleeve 19 which Jfaces the sleeve 13 is provided with segmental recesses 19 and interposed segmental projections 19. The recesses l l and the projections 19C are pref erably of the saine angular extent as the re cesses 13b and projections 13C, respectively, and the parts will be so arranged that, when assembled, the projections ofthe sleeve 13g- Aso willbe within the recesses 19b while the proy s leeve will occupy the central portions of the recesses of the other sleeve.

From the foregoing description 1t is believed that the operation will be clear. Un-

4der ordinary conditions, the action of the spring will be substantially the same as that of a'cantaliver spring such as shown herein but having the ordinary connection with the bracket 18. In the case of excessive vibration of the end of the spring 'which is connected to the axle, it will be evident that the rotary movements of the spring about the pin or bolt 15 will be positively stopped by the engagement of the shoulders on the projections 19c and 13c and that this positive stop will occur when the axle shall ha e moved a predetermined distance either upwardly or downwardly, or when the vehicle bodyshall have moved a predetermined distance upwardly or downwardly with reference to the axle. The result is that the spring will operate in the ordinary manner until this point of maximum deflection is reached, whereupon only the part of the spring extending between the axle and the bracket 18 will be active. This obviously will operate to check the excessive vibration of the spring and the excessive relative mtvement between the vehicle body and the ax e.

By merely proportioning the relative lengths of the recesses and projections on the sleeves 13a and 19, the full resilient ac- -tion of the spring may be retained throughout a predetermined desirable range of movement and, within this predetermined limit, the full eciency of the spring is available for the purpose of easy riding.

When, however, the relative movement between the vehicle and the body becomes excessive', this movement is checked through the automatic substitution of a short spring for a long one, whereby this excessive movement is reduced in extent, but without sacrificing any of the resiliency of the spring within the limits which are desirable.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim 1s:-

1. rlhe combination, with a vehicle body .trame and axle, of a spring connected at one end to the axle and at its opposite end to the frame, means pivotally connecting the central portion of the spring to the frame, and means for limiting the rotary movement of end to the axle and at the other end to the frame, means pivotally connecting the central portion of the spring to the frame, and means coperating with suchpivotal connection for positively limiting the rotary movement of the spring'about its pivot in both directions.

3. The combination, with a vehicle body frame and axle, of a spring, means connecting one end of said spring to the axle,

means connecting the opposite end of theA spring to the said frame, a pivotal connection between the central portion of thc spring and the frame, said connection including a bracket having a pin, a spring seat rotatably mounted on the pin, and means associated with the spring seat and the pin whereby the rotary movement of the seat with reference to the pin is limited. j

4. The combination, with a vehicle body frame and axle, of a spring, means connecting one end of said spring to the axle, means connecting the opposite end of the spring to the said frame, a pivotal connection between the central portion of the spring and the frame, and means associated with such connection whereby the rotary movement of the spring is limited in both directions from its normal position.

5. The combination, with a vehicle body frame and axle, of a spring, means connecting one end of the spring to the axle, means connecting the opposite end of the spring to the frame, a spring seat connected to the central portion of the spring, a support carried by the frame on which said seat is rotatably mounted, said seat having one end thereof provided with one or more segmental recesses, and a member carried by the pin having one or more projections adapted to enter said recess or recesses, each projection being of less angular extent than its cooperating recess.

6. The combination, with a vehicle body frame and axle, of a spring, means connecting one end of the spring to the axle, means connecting the opposite end of the spring to the frame, a support carried by the frame on which the central portion of the spring is rotatably mounted, the spring and the support being provided the one with a recess and the other with a projection entering such recess and of less angular extent than the recess whereby the Arotary movement of the spring with reference to'its support is limited.

7. The combination, with a vehicle body and axle, of a spring, means connecting one end of the spring to the axle, means connecting the opposite end of the spring to the frame, a bracket carried by the frame, a

` pin supported in said bracket, a spring seat I pin with reference to the first seeve I nemu 1n testimony whereof, hereunto afx my be;v said sleeve members being provided sigature in the presence of two Witnesses. helene w1zh a recess and the other Wlth a pe'jeein adapted to enter the -recess and JOHN G' UTZ f being 'of less angular exieni', than said re- 4iitfiesses:

cessy whereby-lie rotary Ir'lovemenj of the J HULL, spring-about said pin-is limited. BRENNAN B. WEST., 

